Disclaimer: I do not own YGO 5Ds.

I had rushed to the pier expecting, well, I wasn't exactly sure what I was expecting, never having been involved in a fugitive escape plan before. I thought the pier would be pitch black with secret-espionage stuff going on in the darkness. Or there would be Michael Bay level gratuitous explosions and an army facing off against Akiza Izinski. Instead, I saw giant holographic monsters.

Of course I did. I should have known. How should Sectory Security capture wanted criminals if not by dueling? I think I'm happy that my crew is winning in this contest of children's card games. I think.

I saw Yusei, dueling three Sector officers at once and wiping the floor with them. I saw Chaos, just ordering his Black Lustre Soldier for a second attack. I saw Felice, who was obviously glad that she finally has something non-logistics-related to do, laughing maniacally as her machines stomped out what's left of her opponent's life points.

They all looks so serious about their children's card games.

Turning around immediately, I decided to leave. I wasn't going to be involved in this farce of an arrest/escape attempt, I had better things to do, probably.

"Hey," One Sector officer, looking no older than Yusei, stopped me before I could leave. "Are you involved with these people?"

"Um," I hesitated, finally deciding that it would be far too embarrassing to admit that not only did I know these adults currently using a children's trading card game to defy the justice system, I was their leader. "No, not at all." I replied resolutely.

"Good for you," He smiled, genuinely pleased at seeing somebody who hadn't sided with the riffraff of the Satellite.

I nodded and turned to go, but had to turn back as curiosity got the better of me.

"Why are you guys dueling?" I asked a question I had literally wanted to know a lifetime ago.

The kid blushed, making the freckles on his nose stand out even more. "We had to, captain's orders."

"And you never questioned those orders?" Maybe it's not just the Satellite that has problems.

"Are you kidding me?" He huffed his chest out defensively, then sloughed back at what he was about to say, "Do you see that, that's Black Rose Witch!"

I looked at him, comprehension slowly dawning in my eyes.

"She could crush us all with a snap of her fingers if she wanted to! It's much safer just to duel her into a surrender."

"And if you lose?" I pointed to Yusei who was taking on his second set of three Sector Officers.

"Then the boss can't say we didn't try," His eyes twinkled.

I laughed at the response.

"Hey, crime doesn't pay." He reminded me seriously. "Look at them, they always think they at the top of the world when they're winning, but one slip up and it's off to the Facilities. And sooner or later, they always slip up."

"Huh, I never thought of it like that." I admitted. When a Sector Officer loses, they just move on, when a satellite loses, they get arrested immediately. Of course, when you have an innumerable number of challengers, sooner or later you will lose.

I have to admit, the Sector's smarter than I've given them credit for.

"I have to go," I said hurriedly. I have to end this before somebody on my team actually loses.

"I gotta get back to work, gotta beat that rogue satellite." He lined up behind one of the three people currently dueling Yusei, he was third in line, it'll be his turn soon.

Again wishing we had cellphones, I grabbed Felice out of her duel to get Lazar, he's the only one we have who can stop this right now.

A Dark Signer had been turned.

While Yuki all but passed out in her bed, the news of a Dark Signer having been converted to back to a human spread quickly to all for whom that information was relevant.

It offered a gleam of hope to some, but even more than that, it created unforeseen alarm and tension.

Rex Goodwin paced irritably in his office. Rex had long zeroed in on the identity of all five Signers, this extra candidate might present a problem. She is, however, coming to the Fortune Cup, as Lazar assured him, he'll just have to sort things out then.

There's a more urgent, if not more important question. His plan had been set in stone, he thought his plan had been set in stone years ago, but now an opportunity presents itself for him to free Roman. Finally after being controlled by the darkness 17 years ago and suffering for every day of it, his brother might breathe, eat, sleep, live. His older brother, his only living family. And he can't deny that the potential to hold this over Roman for the rest of his life was infinitely appealing…

"Kalin." Roman murmured, he never imagined he would be so happy to see one of the candles on his desk extinguished. Kalin had gone a different path than he, perhaps a better path, perhaps much worse if the Netherworld Ruler were to emerge victorious. But such was his fate, and Roman was done playing with fate.

This new Signer though, remains a threat. In his mind, Roman had little doubt the green-haired woman he saw the other day was a Signer. Only a Signer can defeat a Dark Signer. She must be taken care of, and quickly. It's perhaps worth noting that Roman was not gifted with the powers of illusion and as such, had no idea that Kalin's deck had been changed prior to the duel.

"Yes sir," Lazar nodded to the giant TV screen that displayed a member of Yliaster. He had just 'escaped' from the Satellite, albeit with a much fatter wallet, with the retreating Sector forces defeated by a card game. "Yes, yes, the escape convict Kessler, part of a gang, called themselves the Dark Signers. Just a trivial Satellite thing really, definitely nothing for you to be concerned about. He did leave his gang, that's what my sources tell me."

I woke up the next morning after 10 hours of sleep, feeling refreshed and ready to take on the world. Just kidding, I've been sleep deprived for two weeks, and as anybody severely sleep deprived for a short period of time would know, the first night doesn't make you feel better at all.

Reality, though, is a harsh mistress. I did remember what happened last night and was vaguely aware of things I needed to take care of, like a certain crab-haired duelist who would help me get a machine that could destroy the world. Fueled with that idea, I stumbled out of bed and into our factory, which, thankfully, was still just two doors across.

Yusei and Akiza were dueling, naturally. Crow had already left to tend to his duties as baby-sitter-in-chief, poor kid. I did feel a little happier. Whenever I'm utterly worn out and resenting the world, it always helps look at somebody more miserable.

"Yuki!" Yusei paused the duel, an act that gave me second thoughts.

"Welcome back?" I looked ruefully at the golden tattoo on his face, the mark of a convict. Don't get me wrong, it's a good look for him, but I do feel a little guilty that I didn't try very hard to prevent it.

"Good to be back," Yusei actually bumped fists with me, oblivious to my deliberate inaction before and during his brief imprisonment. In my defense, the tattoos are a good look for him.

"How's Kalin?" After everything that's happened in the last couple of days, that was the first question he asked me. "When Crow left this morning, he said Kalin wasn't up yet, and when I went to look for him, he was gone."

"Any idea where Kalin went?" I asked Cyril.

"If you wanted a babysitter, you should have asked Hogan to do a better job." Vincent replied for his fellow ex-Magician. The Magicians was one of the many non-aggressive gangs disbanded by the Enforcers during their reign of terror (yes, that's what they're calling it), and the giant duelist still held a serious grudge.

"Has anybody seen Kalin today?" I rolled my eyes at Vincent's lack of professional behavior, I have to instill that into our corporate culture sometime, or pair them off in a buddy system. In hindsight, it was lucky I didn't leave Kalin alone last night given the state he was in, it's an old care tactic for possibly suicidal patients.

"He hasn't left his room when I left, didn't come down to breakfast either, I knocked on his door until I heard him telling me to get lost, he should be fine still," Chaos answered. Having taken care of many kids, he acted paternal to the rest of us half the time. "He should be around here somewhere, I removed the ignition system on his duel runner in case he tried to dash." Chaos acted paternal half the time, the other half he was the guy who managed to feed 10 kids in this abandoned city.

"I'll go look for him," I decided. "There aren't many places he could have gone."

"I'll go too, maybe he went to one of our old hideouts." Yusei added. Akiza stood beside him, not bothering to voice her support.

I briefly considered the possibility of going back to bed and letting Yusei take care of things, then had to berate myself for being so lazy.

Everybody else, even the people who just came back last night, had detailed tasks and projects scheduled, designed by yours-truly, so we were the only ones available.

Nervin waved at me like shooing away a fly.

Still not having learned how to ride a motorcycle, I walked over to our 'apartment complex' in search of the once-leader of the Enforcers.

"Buddy?" I knocked on his door, "you up?"

Silence greeted me, that's usually not a good sign. Though with Kalin, it's really hard to tell.

I tried the handle, it yielded easily. There was nobody inside, I don't know what else I expected.

I doubt checked the parking lot on my way out. His duel runner was gone, he took the engines off another runner. Right.

There was the entire Satellite and I had no idea where to find him. Now, if I were an ex-Enforcer turned ex-Dark Signer overridden with guilt and had lost hope in life, where would I be? The answer came to me in a flash, the symbol of the end of all hope for the Satellite of course.

I borrowed Chaos' duel runner to ride to Daedalus Bridge. I borrowed Chaos' runner because like other electric scooters, it had three wheels, an extra feature that I really appreciated.

There's always more or less of a crowd at the Daedalus Bridge. Out of the half million or so people in the Satellite, somebody is bound to feel emo. Today, a light-blue-haired ex-Dark Signer joined them. Unlike the others staring hopelessly across the river, I could see him slowly scale the remnant of Rex Goodwin's labors.

"Kalin!" I waved frantically, wishing that I had brought help. Kalin hadn't been too difficult to read before, but right now, I can't even tell if he's trying to rebuild the bridge or jump off of it.

"Yoo-hoo?" Crashing into the base of the bridge, I jumped off, looking up against the light at the man atop the bridge. "Buddy?"

He looked down. All I could see were golden eyes set in a gaunt shadow that stood against the light. I presume he said something, but there's no way to here from this distance. Seeing that he had made no move to come down, I sighed and carefully stepped onto the bridge that's beginning to look a lot steeper up close. I was really glad that Goodwin didn't get very far before he was stopped.

"Yuki," Kalin barely lifted his eyes to look at me. He seems to have lost all energy after last night's duel.

"Hey," I made a small wave, secretly relieved that at least he wasn't dead. "Umm," I was never trained at this therapist stuff, though 'how are you' probably wasn't the best question right now.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to jump." He assured me, which, frankly, was exactly what I wanted to hear, though it's not comforting how far he was leaning into the air. "I don't deserve to die the same way as a legend."

So he does believe a man who rides a motorcycle off a bridge and was never seen again for 17 years is dead. Good for him.

Seeing that he wasn't going to do anything rash, I edged closer, sitting down beside him with my legs dangling off the edge of the bridge, feeling the stone and mortar Rex Goodwin built with his own two hands. I have to ask him how he did that sometime.

"So what are you doing here?" I began a little awkwardly, which was a really bad question now that I think about it.

"Hmmm," Kalin responded. I guess I had to take that as a response, because he didn't say anything for another whole minute. Usually when you wait that long, people say something.

"Anything you wanna talk about?" I felt proud of myself for thinking of that question. So tactful, non-intrusive yet effective. I also have low standards for myself as far as therapy skills are concerned.

"I thought about what happened last night," Kalin said, staring into the light of Domino City that shone brightly even during the day. "And the two years before that."

"Thinking's overrated?" I ventured.

"I really wanted to kill people." He ignored my comment, "I wanted to kill you last night. I had helped that demon take hundreds of souls from the Satellite. Don't you see? I was a murderer." Before I could say anything, he continued, "My victims happened to come back, but I did kill them."

So technically attempted murder, but I don't think that's what he wants to hear right now.

"You were brainwashed, you have to forgive yourself," I'm very good at that.

"Why?" He demanded, "I didn't forgive anybody else for two years, why should I be any different?"

Because humans are inherently selfish and judge others by their actions and ourselves by our motives? But unlike me, Kalin was actually a good person, so that rhetoric might not be as effective on him.

"So you think you need to atone for your sins." I tried a different tactic.

He turned to look at me, interested for the first time.

"You should be punished for everything you've done." I led him on carefully.

He nodded again.

I gnawed on the inside of my cheeks to hold back a perverted grin. Kalin, willingly punished... No, no, I have more important things to take care of, there's no time for fun now.

"So what are your plans? Bet your life on each duel until you inevitably lose and spend the rest of your life in physical torment to ease your guilt?"

Kalin looked up in alarm at me stating his exact plan.

"That's a rather an undeserving way to achieve satisfaction, don't you think? You might feel better about yourself but you would have done nothing to be worthy of such solace." Going to Crash Town and fighting for a gang leader is really an odd choice for penance. Even if he loses and suffers a life of mining underground, it really doesn't help anybody except a single mob boss in a small Midwest-styled town beside the futuristic Domino City.

"What are you thinking?" Kalin asked suspiciously.

"Then how about City planning?" I replied cheerfully.

Kalin gave me a disparaging look, "I don't want some management job, I want to pay for everything I've done."

"Then City Planning would be perfect," I nodded for emphasis, "it's the most miserably job I have. It's the backbone of the economy and it'll help a lot of people. TTrust me, far more people would hate you than when you were at your Dark Signer gig."

Kalin rolled his eyes, but did manage a dry chuckle.

"This isn't the first time I've been selfish, Yuki," He sighed. "So I'm asking you for a favor, as a friend- let me go. Let me find something that'll numb this gnawing pain inside of me."

That's a red flag for imminent drug abuse if I've ever seen one.

"You don't need me here," He continued, almost pleading, "The Satellite doesn't need me anymore. Can't you let me go somewhere so I won't be haunted by nightmares of everything I've ever done?"

I would, except I know he'd end up working for a third-rate mob boss in the middle of nowhere hoping to condemn himself to a life of menial labor. And I really need somebody to build an army of psychic duelists for me.

"What do you want to do then?" I asked, wondering if he was planning on carrying out his stupid plan from the anime.

"I don't know, Yuki." He replied, looking into the distance, "I have struggled all my life trying to find something worthwhile, yet my dreams always lead to disaster. Every choice I make only makes things worse. This time, I will surrender myself to Fate. Wherever it leads me, I will follow."

Okay, so same stupid plan from anime it is.

"Well, Fate led you here." I wiggled a little closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder, "So stop choosing。 Surrender, and follow. If you had any idea of what you want to do, I'd let you go. Until then, stay. Help me. If you don't have a dream, you can share in mine."

"I-" Kalin looked moved for a second, before changing his mind again. "I told you, you don't need me anymore. Look around, your dream is all but a reality." He leaned closer, then held his hands up in front of me and formed a rectangle between his thumbs and index fingers. Looking through it, I saw the river and coasts on both sides. Thanks to heavy infrastructure investments, they looked almost indistinguishable.

"Do you think that's all I have planned?" It's strange nobody else questioned me on this. The Zephyrs has very limited long-term plans, as is common in the Satellite. So even though I know exactly what I want to do for this world (to this world), I've never actually told anyone.

Kalin looked at me curiously.

"Would you call me ambitious if I told you I wanted create a chance for everybody in every Satellites?" I asked softly, looking down onto the crowd below. "For each and every one of them to escape into a better life."

"Not ambitious." Kalin replied, "Just very, very stupid. The chances of your success is low enough to call the attempt a waste of time, why not stick to what you can change?"

"They called you stupid when you tried to change the Satellite," I replied teasingly. He's wrong of course. I think if I really put my mind to it, I could manage it. I have no plans of taking on such an momentous task, I'm just saying anything to get him off the ledge.

"And they were right, I failed." Kalin pointed out darkly.

"But nobody would call me stupid if I said right now that I wanted to change the Satellite. They would have called it impossible a month ago. There's enough resources to provide an adequate living standard for every person on the planet, it just needs to be in the hands of somebody who knows how to use it."

"How?"

"We'll have enough energy to restore agriculture and manufacturing," I began, then immediately realized it was too specific for him. He had no idea what I was talking about. So I started again, simplifying things as much as I could, "I'm going to build a city that accepts anyone who wants to come, so no satellite would be stranded again with nowhere to go."

Terms and restrictions apply, and it might be much more than a city. But that's another story.

"You're right, that is very ambitious." Kalin searched my eyes searching for any signs of deceit, finding none. "I can't imagine anything more satisfying. If Fate led me here, I won't fail Her this time. Go, lead the way, I'll be right behind you."

"Good, 'cause we're becoming a spectacle for the audience," I motioned at the small crowd gathering to watch the two idiots sitting off the ledge of the half-built bridge.

Kalin stood up, dusting off his jeans. "Let's go."

He rode his duel runner off the bridge. I on the other hand, walked down like a normal human being, because it's completely ridiculous to ride a motorcycle onto a half-built bridge, and also I didn't think I could make Chaos' electric scooter go up this steep an incline.

Blitz leaned back on their couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table he built, and sighed contently, even the incessant noise of construction above ground couldn't distract him from his good mood. Like many of the satellites, he didn't get a job in the Development, it's never a good idea to get too attached to the newest fad in the Satellite. Still, the unexpected competition had forced Domino factories to improve working conditions and reduce hours to keep the discontentment of their workers more or less at bay, which is why he could get off early this Wednesday afternoon.

Tank had taken the day off to go to the pier and pick up their shipment of hamburger and milkshakes. It had been Tank's dream to eat a hamburger dipped in milkshakes. His dream was to get out of the Satellite. Rally's dream was to become the best duelist in the world. At one time in his life, not that long ago, he had thought their dreams had about equal chances of becoming a reality.

If Yuki had known, she would have explained that like Twinkies, these hamburgers never spoils, making them one of the easiest things to transport to remote locations, or prime coastal real estate like the Satellite. Also that dipping hamburgers in milkshakes is a horrible idea and a disgusting combination. Of course, Yuki didn't know. She had taken one bite of the burgers and, not being able to identify its ingredients, decided that it was probably another one of those failed meat-imitation things, and promptly throwing the rest of the burger out. Throwing food out is a bad habit that our visitor had yet to get rid of.

"Blitz, this came for you, I'll be back before sundown" Rally skipped into the tunnels, handing him a letter. Thanks to the increase in commercial activity and visitors from Neo Domino, Rally had been working as a middleman, getting a cut of the action and now making more than Tank or himself. Of course, instead of spending the money on food or clothing, Rally chose to invest it in trading cards.

The brunet read the letter in his hand, then reread it. A personal invitation from Yuki Tono to a job interview. What could the leaders of the Zephyrs want with a common satellite like him?

He didn't like the idea of getting involved with the newest maniac trying to run the Satellite from the inside. Sure, what she did had a positive effect on the town so far, but god knows how long that lasts. Blitz had his money (now that there's money circulating in the Satellite again) on two weeks after the Fortune Cup, when the Sector would have their hands free to deal with this newest group, Tank had his money on eight days.

Nonetheless, it's probably not a good idea to piss Tono off before the Sector's got to her. Blitz reluctantly decided to check things out.

A/N: I don't like this chapter title, I debated changing it to War Mongering, but thought that was a bit on the nose.